The Rogues of Paradise
by nomorehashtag
Summary: Harry blames Dudley After accidentally finding an extremely overpower portkey, and accidentally activating said portkey. Harry, Dudley, and a few friends find themselves in the middle of the battle of Christophsis. Harry finds himself battling droids, a couple Sith assassins, and the lure of the Darkside. Dudley approves. One of Tellemicus Sundance Archive Rejects. With Permission
1. Chapter 1

Dudley Dursley was an adrenalin junkie. It was his biggest secret. His parents prided themselves on being absolutely Normal. Anything Abnormal or worse (the M-word he got in trouble for even thinking about) would probably ruin his and his parents' relationship. So, while this did give him an adrenalin fix, it was also training for being sneaky.

"Okay, just about done." Gordon was disabling the fire alarm connected to the door, so they could easily slip in and out the back at their leisure in the future.

Dudley was glad Piers had stopped him from beating on the nerd three years ago. Gordon was smart, like _incredibly_ smart. Engineering, Advanced Mathematics, Physics, and the dozen other advanced courses he took had hidden something even Dudley was impressed by: Gordon was an expert at hacking and other forms of electronically getting into otherwise locked and sealed off places.

"We have less than twenty seconds."a quiet voice uttered from startlingly nearby. It caused Dudley to almost cry out in fright. Piers actually did gave a small yelp.

"You are _so_ getting a bloody bell!" Dennis, the only one in the group bigger than Dudley, hissed in fright while holding a hand over his heart.

Malcolm, the one who scared them all, was what Gordon would call their stealth expert. Dudley called him their own personal ninja. Suddenly, the door opened and the teens fled out the door before Malcolm softly closed it behind them. But as he was doing that, Malcolm caught a glimpse of something further inside from where they'd just vacated. He hurriedly guestured in the group's own personal sign language. The group members who saw, Dudley and Piers, quickly followed the ninja's orders. They quickly hid on the other side of the door, the one with a dead end five meters further 's heart thundered in his chest as the door slammed open, hitting the brick wall just in front of his face.

"Oi!" The manager's voice cracked. The guy was two years above Dudley's year and he worked at the movies as a part time job. He was also a prefect at Smeltings, and fiercely enforced the rules whenever he could. Dudley couldn't help but grin as the manager looked down the seemingly empty alley towards the busy street, confused.

"Bloody kids," the manager snarled as he closed the door, not once glancing towards the group hiding just behind it.

Dennis let out an audible breath he had been holding. Piers and Gordon just laughed quietly, Malcolm smirked, and Dudley wished for a cigar so he could emulate a certain Colonel he idolized. Dudley instead brought Gordon in for a good-natured noogie. While the shortest boy struggled to get free, the entire group, except Malcolm, burst into loud laughter. "Mission accomplished."

When Dudley let go of him, Gordon dropped to the ground, landing in a pile garbage that had fallen off the overflowing trash can. Gordon's streams of curses and insults were a thing of beauty, for they involved nine real languages and snippets of Klingon, Mando'a, and Sindarin as well. It was most impressive until he stopped in the middle of it. "What's this?"

Gordon hopped awkwardly out of the garbage, holding a golden ticket. It seemed to _glow_ in the dark alley. Piers knocked a month-old bit of newspaper out of Gordon's hair, and then pulled the ticket from his hand. He examined it like a jeweler would examine a diamond ring. Piers' voice was amazed, "It's glowing."

Malcolm snatched the ticket out of his hand in a movement too fast to track. Dudley felt a shiver crawl up his spine as he caught sight of the ticket. After looking it over, Malcolm handed the ticket to Dennis who was tried to read what was written on the ticket. "I can't read it." he told them.

This statement caused Piers to crack a joke about his ability to read. Something Dennis was quick to counter, "I'm serious! It's not in the Queen's English."

Dudley felt the blood drain from his face. "Give it here!" He roared, yanking the ticket from the bigger boy's grasp. Acting fast, he brought his hands up to rip it in half. Sadly, for him Piers jumped him at the same time as Dennis. While the pair were tackling him, Gordon pried the ticket from his grasp before hiding behind Malcolm, the only one who could really take Dudley in a fight. Dudley struggled valiantly against the two boys holding him down.

"What's wrong, Dudley?" Piers asked, "I've never seen you that scared before." Piers had been friends with Dudley since forever, but even the ones others who were more recent friends were worried. Dudley had once charged an older and stronger punk with a knife who had been mugging Gordon. He was fearless!

" _Magic_ ," Dudley whispered. "The ticket's _magic_." The second time Dudley whispered the word he spat it like it was the foulest thing in existence.

Dennis snorted, "Magic isn't real." Dudley glared at him heatedly.

"There _are_ many things that science can't explain," Malcolm pointed out. Gordon reluctantly nodded at that. "Dudley would have to have a _reason_ to fear it this much." Malcolm continued logically.

Piers looked up suddenly as a revelation struck him. "The zoo!"

Dudley nodded rapidly and finally Piers got off of Dudley, pulling Dennis off of him.

"Do you know anyone who could see if it _is_ magical." Gordon asked skeptically. He was curious about the zoo reference, but that could wait. In his mind, he was already wondering and imagining what kinds of improvements he could make to his inventions. After all, magic was just science that wasn't properly understood.

Dudley got up from the ground, frowning heavily as he glared at the ground. "It's a secret." He told them, "But my cousin is a wizard."

Piers' face turned green." _OhmygodImgonnabeturnedintoatoad_!" Piers bent over like he was about to puke, which confused the others. All that they knew about Dudley's cousin is that he was at a boarding school for most of the year and that Dudley had, rather recently forbid the rest of them from ever messing with him. Now they knew why.

Dudley shook his head, "Let's just go talk to Harry."

It wasn't too bad of a walk to Dudley's house on Privet Drive. Piers lived on the same street, and Dennis lived only two blocks further down. Gordon and Malcolm were curious enough that the longer walk didn't bother them at all. Unfortunately Harry wasn't there yet by the time they got there. So Dudley, Dennis and Piers tried to decide on how they were supposed to wait. Dennis wanted to watch Danny Phantom, Piers was all for putting on the pirated copy of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the movie they had just snuck into the theater to watch, and Dudley wanted to watch his all time favorite show. "The Clone Wars!"

After only a few minutes of arguing, they decided to let Dudley have his way as to help him calm down. In no time, his computer started blaring the opening theme. While this was going on, Malcolm and Gordon were busy analyzing the ticket. Malcolm was sketching out all of the different written characters and symbols on different pages of copy paper, carefully kept separate from each other. As he did that, Gordon was filtering the images through his custom-made PDA.

"This is a mess," Gordon grumbled irritatedly. "Ancient Sumerian, Greek, Persian, Egyptian, Mayan, Inca, Japanese, and half a dozen other languages are on this thing."

"Can you translate it?" Piers asked, only half watching the show. He had faith that the two smartest kids he knew could figure it out. They had hacked MI5 together once! They could do _anything_.

"Maybe, these four symbols," Gordon pointed at four pieces of paper Malcolm had copied various symbols onto, "Don't show up on any database I can find. I'm currently asking about them through a couple of forums." Piers nodded like he understood. He did understand _some_ of it, just not all of it.

"Maybe Potter will know about it." Piers told Gordon with a shrug

Harry Potter hated himself. He hated Voldemort. He hated Belatrix Lestrange. But most of all he hated himself. He had _almost_ gotten his friends killed. He _had_ gotten his godfather killed. His eyes burnt with tears he refused to shed as he thought about Sirius before shaking his head. If Dudley saw him crying, he'd get laughed at. Though, there was a part of him that knew Dudley had been different since he saved him from the Dementors, Harry hadn't spent enough time around his cousin for the changes to really become apparent.

Quietly, Harry opened the door to Number 4. He stalked past his Aunt and Uncle as they were watching the news about a gas line exploding. ' _Voldemort most likely_ ' the teenage wizard thought to himself.

He went directly up the stairs for his room. but as he passed Dudley's door, it opened.

"Are you Harry?" A teenager the wizard had never seen before asked.

"Yes?" Before Harry could ask who he was, the teen dragged him into the room.

With six people in one room, it was extremley crowded. Dudley paused something on his computer, turned around in his nice office chair, and tried to give Harry a friendly smile. "So...We think we found something magical."

Flinching reflexively at the extremely blunt statement, Harry looked around at the group of muggles in front of him, and double facepalmed. "There's a _law_ about _secrecy_ , and you just told all your friends about me being a wizard. You know there's wizards whose entire job is to _erase_ the memories of any muggles who know about magic."

Dudley winced at that but nodded. "Harry, I wouldn't have bothered you if I wasn't sure it's magical"

Harry looked at Dudley with slight confusion at the strange lack of derision, fear, or even disgust in his voice or expression. As far as Harry could tell, his cousin was honest about it. "I know I haven't been the best cousin in the world, but I really want to fix that now." Now Dudley looked embarrassed. He opened his mouth to say more but Harry cut him off with a heavy sigh and a raised hand.

"Okay Dudley. I'll check this 'magical' thing out." Harry didn't think whatever this item was that it was _actually_ maigical, but he didn't want to lose any more family, so he decided to indulge his cousin. Harry's thoughts about the item being magical shifted as soon as he saw it. That luminescent glow could _only_ be one thing!

"Drop it." Harry barked in such a commanding tone that Dudley immediately dropped it. The rest of his friends backed as far away as they could. With such a reaction, it was obviously dangerous. Harry pulled out his wand and carefully lifted the ticket to examine it more closely. While he couldn't perform any spells without being in clear danger, he still felt safer with it in his grip.

"It's definately magical." He said softly, speaking more to himself than the others. His eyes were locked on the ticket "There's ancient runes on it. Hmm... It almost feels like a portkey, only far more powerful. No compulsions, though." Harry wished he could perform a few analyzing spells. All the things he'd just listed were things that he could divine from the familiar 'feel' of the different and vaguely familiar spells and enchantments that saturated the ticket. "Can someone copy the runes down?"

The ticket brightened. Golden light flooded the small room. From the outside it looked as if the sun shone out the window. The ray of light hit a snoozing Mundungus Fletcher, who simply rolled over.

Dudley yelled, the last thing he saw was _Bail Organa_ begging for help from a command post on Christophsis.

Harry was right in his assessment. It was like a more powerful portkey. The standard hook behind his naval became a vice grip on his spine. Harry felt like he was in a hurricane, instead of wind however, it was pure magic. Harry could feel it. Even Gordon, the most _blind_ to magic could feel it.

Just as fast as it started, it was done. There wasn't even that twinge of blindness from seeing such a bright light.

Harry picked himself off the ground, and looked around, "Where the bloody hell are we?" He asked.


	2. Chapter 2

Brief AN: Don't own Star Wars. I pulled this story from Tellemicus Sundance's Archive Rejects after getting his permission. So, if this story sounds similar to his story New Rebels (which is great and you should read if you haven't already) it's because it's the same general idea, just in the Clone Wars, with extra people.

PS: I humbly apologize for messing up any British slang or curses, I'm just a knuckle dragging American. As well as any butchering of football terms, teams, rivalries, or anything else. As an Okie, I know how Americans get over our football, so please don't burn down my appartment.

PPS: That was a joke. Unless it is that bad, then a negative review will correct me, and you can better explain any British eccentricities and I'll do my best to learn.

PPPS: The French thing is not my fault, my sister messed up the pronunciation and I couldn't help it.

* * *

"Where the bloody hell are we?" Harry asked.

"Whooooaaaa!" Piers said, awe and confusion lacing his voice in equal measure as he and the others stared around themselves, taking in the sights with wide eyes. If ever they had actual, concrete proof that magic existed, it was most assuredly and unquestionably at this exact moment. And while not as dedicated fans of the franchise as Dudley, most especially in recent years, each of them could recognize where they were after just a few moments of getting their bearings.

Unfortunately for Harry, he was the only one who didn't know where he was at. Emerald eyes scanned the landscape carefully. From what he could see of the strange place, it had formerly been a place of beauty. Now, it was a place of death. Literally, he could see bodies. Yes, they clearly weren't all human bodies, but they were bodies all the same.

A loud explosion that went off just a bit too close to them to be comfortable jolted the boys into action. Rushing into an alley between two massive skyscrapers overlooking a large intersection in the the large road, they found a crumbling hole in the wall and climbed in. Once inside and feeling reasonably safer, they all clamored around the hole and gazed out at the landscape again.

His wand already in hand, Harry whispered, " _Homenum Revelio_." It was a spell primarily designed to find hidden persons, but it could work in a pinch to separate the dead and anyone still alive. The spell came up blank. Harry felt his eyes sting a bit as he repressed reflexive grief. Who could so blatantly kill what were clearly civilians? Apparently, evil existed in all realms.

"What did that spell do?" Dudley asked. His eyes glancing to glowed to the formerly glowing tip of the wand. He already had a guess, he wasn't stupid after all. It sounded like some sort of Latin for uncovering persons.

"It's a spell designed to find hidden people, Dudley. They're all dead." Harry's voice was remarkably flat. "Who did this and why?!"

"Battledroids under the control of the Confederation of Independent Systems invaded the planet. Apparently, Christophsis is rich in resources needed for their army." Dudley tried to explain, "GAR forces evacuated the planet, but they couldn't save everyone." Dudley admitted there was a part of him that was so excited to be in the Star Wars galaxy, but it was a stark reminder that death loomed over the Jedi and trillions of other beings.

"I see wait. What?!" Harry turned on Dudley faster than the boxer could react wand raised, "You know where we are? Explain how you know! Now!" Harry snarled

"It's Star Wars, Harry. But it isn't supposed to be real." Malcolm answered for Dudley after seeing his friend immediately clam up at his cousin's rather understandable anger. Dudley was too scared to speak, and Malcolm could guess it was because he had been raised to be terrified of magic. If Harry let all his anger go, it wouldn't help here.

Thankfully, the wizard quickly got control of himself as understanding started setting in, looking down at the no longer glowing movie ticket he still held in his hand. The wizard seemed to age fifty years in just a few seconds.

Finally conquering his fear, Dudley put his hand on his cousin's shoulder and spoke in a calm, reassuring tone. "It's okay, Harry, I know you're angry. I am too! We need to get to safety, this is still a battlefield. Can you get us home?"

Harry glanced at the ticket in his left hand. It was magically inert now, dead, useless. He shook his head in the negative. "The portkey is dead, single use apparently. I could maybe make a portkey that would move us a few kilometers, but not through space-time."

Dennis yelled out angrily at that, turning around and kicking a piece of rubble. He cursed as he shook the pain from his foot. After a moment to calm down, he turned back to the others who were looking at him wearily. "Sorry, Harry, I'm not mad at you."

Malcolm, seemingly the least bit unnerved at both the presence of the surrounding dead bodies and the change in universe, spoke up. "We should find somewhere to regroup and figure out what we're going to do. Battledroids probably heard us. And by 'us' I mean Dennis."

Gordon snarled curses. "My PDA isn't picking up any communications. Either A: Earth tech is too primitive; or B: The droids are running some extremely good ECM. Possibly a combination of the two."

Piers' tone for what he saw seemed completely underwhelmed. "The droids did hear Dennis. Two squads of the smaller ones are approaching from that way." He was pointing, lacking cardinal directions or the knowledge to use reference points.

Harry turned to face the droids. "Droids are some kind of robot, right? What breaks them easiest?" he asked, magical energy started to swirl around him looking very much like a heatwave with the tip of his wand glowing dangerously. Piers was surprised, as was Dudley. This was the kid they had bullied as children?

"Electricity does the trick in large amounts. But crushes, explosions, and high enough temperatures also work. The B1 model isn't that much tougher than an average human from what I can tell." Gordon informed the clearly angry wizard, all the while semi-subtly edging towards cover.

As they drew within fifteen meters distance away, the battledroids opened fire. Ruby red bolts of plasma streaked towards the group of displaced humans at rather substantial speeds. But Harry was faster. A shield so powerful it was visible, flared into existence. The translucent blue energy field absorbed the lethal blaster bolts with a ripple and a low-pitched twang.

At the first flare of red, Dudley had hit the deck. He had hit the ground so hard, he was sure it was gonna bruise. The others had similarly taken cover behind solid pieces of rubble and behind walls wherever they could. Dudley slowly peeked out from an almost too small to cover him bit of rubble. He was in _awe_.

Harry's wand danced through the air, lifting fist sized chunks of rubble into the air and firing them fast enough to where they were only perceptible as blurs. Of the two dozen battledroids firing at the Boy-Who-Lived, half were cut down in an instant thanks to that barrage. The battledroids that were hit crumpled like tin cans. Next, huge gouts of flame spat out of the holly and phoenix-feather wand. All the while that blue shield stayed up, protecting the wizard from harm. Unfortunately for Harry, flame didn't affect machines as much as it did living beings.

Harry cursed. Keeping that powerful shield up was tiring, so was the overpowered banishing charms he'd used on the small bits of rubble. To try and conserve some energy, Harry had tried switching to the Incendio charm, which had failed. The teenage wizard gritted his teeth and tried a spell he'd read about during his training in the Triwizard Tournament.

" _Confringo_!" The blasting curse slammed into the nearest battledroid, and sent it flying into a nearby building. Thankfully, the droid didn't get up and was visibly damaged. Harry quickly lashed out with several more blasting curses, eliminating the cheap death machines left and right. The last curse literally blew a droid's head off of its spindly neck!

As the last droid went down, Harry released the shield and collapsed to his knees on the ground. He felt unbelievably tired, but then again he didn't know a single person who had held such a powerful spell and didn't feel at least a little bit worn out. Even Dumbledore had seemed especially tired after his duel with Voldemort after all.

"Hurry, everyone! Grab some weapons!" Dudley shouted. While everyone else was picking up the notoriously cheap (even by Earth's standards) E-5 blaster carbine, Dudley went to check on his cousin.

"You're not out of mana, or whatever, are you?" Dudley asked, "C'mon, we're not out of this yet." Dudley pulled his cousin to his feet. Glancing around, Dudley amazingly found a droid officer pistol, which Gordon helpfully rattled off as a SE-14 blaster pistol and commented that it had an overheating problem. Dudley handed the blaster to his cousin. "For when you do run out of mana." Dudley explained simply at his cousin's puzzled look.

Harry didn't even know what 'mana' was, but he almost teared up when he realized his cousin was looking out for him.

"I think I've located a GAR position," Malcolm notified the party from the side, looking out a broken window of the building they were still in. "About three kilometers that way, but I really think we should climb the building to check."

Dudley squinted in that direction. He couldn't tell that bit of wrecked city from another portion of wrecked bit of city. But, on the other hand, he'd never known Malcolm to be wrong. "Dennis, Malcolm; climb a good building that isn't going to fall anytime soon. Find us either somewhere to lay low or GAR positions. Piers, you and Harry scout around for anything we can use. Me and Gordon will secure our rendevous point."

Gordon snickers, Harry and Dennis laughed. The wizard leaned close to Dudley, "It's pronounced ron-day-voo. Not ren-deh-vuus."

Dudley's face turned red as a droid's blaster bolt. "But it's spelled like that!" Dudley tried to defend himself, admittedly in a rather feeble tone of voice.

"It's French, Lee," Gordon shrugged as if that explained it, to which Dudley had an 'aha' like face. So, apparently, it did.

"So, where is our RV point?" Malcolm asked, somewhat annoyed because of everyone was getting distracted. It was just like when they had to do group projects at school: he either did all the work, or he had to herd cats so everybody did something.  
"I was getting to it before someone interrupted me," Dudley glared at Harry and then at Dennis. "Anyway, we'll meet up at that building over there. Password is the best football team in the world. You got jobs people, get to them."

Dennis whisper-shouted, "Ready, Break!" All the English teens looked at Dennis in disappointment, even the wizard who preferred Quidditch. Somewhat sheepish, Dennis said, "What? I thought it would be funny."

Gordon cuffed the giant humorously. The whole group laughed. All except one.

Malcolm exploded, "Can you not take this seriously? We're in the middle of a battle! There are dead Christophsians everywhere, and if we look hard enough I bet we can find dead Troopers too. This is serious." His final sentence was a growl, greatly resembling a tone Harry had heard before.

Suddenly, Harry had the distinct impression that Professor Moody had been just like that as a young Auror. "You're right. This is serious. But if you let it get too serious, it'll mess up your ability to think and relax. Which will get you killed just as fast as an Avada Kedavra." Harry explained. "Let's get to work." The Wizard dragged Piers off to the left, dual-wielding his pistol and wand. Piers had his E-5 up and ready after only a moment.

Malcolm took a deep breath to calm himself. "C'mon, Dennis, let's go." The ninja started to walk towards a particularly not blown up building and that had a slightly clearer view than the ones around it.

"What's an Avacodo Kebab." Dennis asked distressed. "I don't wanna die to guacamole!"

* * *

Harry wasn't quite sure why Piers jumped every time he moved to quickly. Though the wizard didn't have to be Hermione to have an idea. "You know I'm not gonna hurt you with my magic right?" Harry asked.

Piers winced. Was it that obvious he was terified of Harry? "So you're not gonna turn me into a frog? Or a pig?"

The Wizard laughed. "I wouldn't, even if I could. Human transfiguration isn't taught until seventh year."

Piers was stunned. Wizards had years? Like they were normal? Not to mention they had a class about turning people into frogs. Piers shrugged. Whatever, he had a laser gun. Who messes with people who can melt off other people's faces?

"What can you tell me about what's going on?" Harry asked, he really wasn't expecting much. People usually tell Harry the things he wanted or needed to know.

"Well, I don't know everything." Piers shrugged. He knew the basics at least. "You'd have to talk to Gordon or Dudley for the whole story. But it starts in the orbit of a little planet in the outer rim. It's a beautiful blue and green planet, full of life and water. It's called Naboo. Surrounding it is a group of Trade Federation battleships. Two Jedi Knights are sent to peacefully resolve the situation..."

* * *

Dennis is breathing hard by the time he pulls himself up to the sixth floor. Malcolm looked like had had taken a nice relaxing stroll. "Why can't we take the lift." The bigger one asked.

Malcolm snorted. "The power's out." He climed another rung of the emergency ladder. "And even if it weren't, I can't read Arubesh. Can you?" Dennis shook his head. To be honest, he didn't even know what Arubesh was. Obviously it was a language, but beyond that...well Dennis could admit he was the least intelligent of the group.

Malcolm finally thought he had enough altitude to determine the presence of Republic Forces, on the eighth floor. Dennis wasn't mad about the long climb, he was mad about Malcolm completeing the climb without breaking a sweat. Malcolm peered out a broken window, careful to keep to the edge. Minimising his chance of getting shot.

Malcom saw miniscule flashes of red and blue. Most likely someone with GAR gear, so most likely Clone Troopers. He took a few moments to map a few routes, and look for potential problems. Dennis took the opertunity to catch his breath. Or at least he tried to. Malcolm was too quick at his job.

"Hurry up Dennis!" Malcolm started climbing down the ladder. Dennis groaned in misery before following him.

Dudley peaked over a bit of rubble he and Gordon (It was mostly Dudley) had moved infront of the buildings main entrance. Originally, it had been a bench of sorts. A knee high block of crystal. Now, Dudley was using it as exra cover. "Gordon! Harry and Piers are coming up on the left."

"What's the password?" Dudley shouted at them.

"Chelsea!"

"I said the best team in the world!" Dudley shouted back. "Not 'the team with the most wankers' you prat." Harry smiled, thinking about Ron and his obsesion with the Chudley Cannons. He stopped smiling. With effort, the Wizard pushed the thought out of his head.

Piers ducked into the building, Harry close behind. "We saw another patroll of droids, but we hid and let them pass." Piers told Dudley. "Standard weapons, no officers, no supers."

Dudley nodded. "Good work, did you find anything?" Harry shook his head.

Dudley turned when he was tapped on his shoulder. "Bloody hell!" Malcolm was right there. Dennis wasn't too far behind him.

Malcolm looked unimpressed, "Found a potential GAR position, but we need to hurry. They're in the middle of combat."

Dudley took a deep breath, "You heard him. Let's move." The group nodded. and rushed out.

"Everybody stay close to eachother, but not too close." Dudley told everyone, but he let Malcolm lead the way since the ninja actually knew where they were going. The group moved at a good pace, and made it to where the battle was reletivitaly quickly.

Too bad it wasn't quick enough. What was had been an even fight when Malcolm had seen it, was now the tail end of a fighting retreat. Wrecked clankers littered the area, and white armored soldiers springled the mostly tan covered ground. Republic forces had been pushed back too quickly however, and there was almost twenty troopers pinned behind cover. To make a bad situation worse, five of them were obviously were trapped with no way to pull back.

Three squares of battledroids were slowly marching to them, the closest square to the troopers was eight rows across and six rows deep. All were made of the skeletal looking B1 battledroids. The second row was a six by two group of the hulking B2 super battledroids. The third square was another eight by six group of B1s.

"That building!" Dudley orderd, sprinting towards a building with only three storys. The group followed him. "Harry, can you do that barrage of rubble you did ealier?" Dudley asked as he pushed the button of the repulsor lift. It opened with a chime. The goup filed in, with Malcolm ignoring Deniss' glare. Dudley pushed the button for the third floor.

"Once maybe. It's actually pretty hard to do." Harry told his cousin. "It's actually an indivdual spell for every thing I throw."

Dudley nodded. "Okay, Harry will hit the supers as hard as he can, we'll blast the droids until he can do it again." Dudley looked out the amazingly unbroken window they had to hurry. He crouched along the edges, of the pane of transperisteel. The others took their positions in similar areas.

Gordon sighed, "I'd love an E-Web right now. Or a Z-6 rotory for Dennis to lug around." He sighted a droid.

Harry stood at the window, he started waving his wand and muttering. There wasn't a heat aura around him this time. But a dangerous glow lighted the tip of his wand.

"Remeber Harry, aim for the silver ones in the middle." Dudley told him. Harry nodded. A look of intense focus crossed his face.

Harry flicked his wand. Dozens of bits of rubble rained on the silvery super battle droids at an high velocity. Dudley opened fire. Malcolm fired next, and then it seemed to hail blaster bolts and weponized rubble.

Everyone but Malcolm kept pressing the trigger, almost without aiming. Malcolm was used to guns, and his accuracy showed. His dad, who was actually in the SAS, had taught him how to shoot. Malcolm was worried that one of the few people he could call friend would be hurt. He knew he was weird, but Dudley, Piers, Gordon and Dennis hadn't cared about that at all. So any time a droid turned around to fire at them, he would blast it before the automaton could actually shoot. But more and more were starting to turn around.

"Harry! Throw up a shield!" Malcolm called out. "Everyone down!" One of those droids wasn't normal. The lone surviving super battledroid had two tube like arms instead instead of the usual dual laser cannons.

Dudley recognised it too. "RPG!" Harry threw up the strongest shield he could muster before diving backwards.

Dudley's ears were ringing, and strangely the floor seemed to be missing just infront of him. 'Oh yeah.' he thought. 'Rocket launcher.' He shouted, but nothing seemed to come out. He shook his head, before checking himself. Nothing seemed broken or bleeding. He must either be lucky or the droids suck at shooting. Dudley found the E-5 blaster he had been using, he grabbed it.

Suddenly the building lurched. Dudley couldn't hear it, but he felt the building shudder. Maybe the clanker aiming program was better than he thought. The floor tilted beneath him, the smooth metal floor suddenly became a smooth metal slide. Dudley reacted quickly, pressing the rubber soles of his sneakers into the floor. Gordon slid passed him, Harry not far behind. A ruby bolt of death splattered into the metal not too far from him.

Dudley cursed before letting himself slide. He fired blindly at the droids on the way down. A cloud of dust rose from the falling building.

He still couldn't hear anything.

He now couldn't see anything.

Where was everyone?

Dudley saw a figure moving closer in the dust. He squinted, a person. No, it was a droid. The enlongated head gave it away.

The boxer scrambled for his blaster, he'd dropped it when he hit the ground. The droid aimed it's blaster, there was no witty quip, no hesittion. Just a droids processor executing a command.

A blue blast hit the B1 in the back. A dozen troopers charged forward spreading out, rifles sweaping the ruble. Dudley saw one lift up Harry, who was unconscious, bleeding from a cut on his forehead. Malcolm was helping a trooper and Dennis clear rubble off Gordon. Piers was getting seen to by a medic, there was a nasty gash on his face. Immediatly the medic switched to checking out Harry.

"Kid, you gonna get up?" Dudley looked up at the trooper. A hand outstretched, "Can you hear me kid? That was a nasty explosion."

"Yeah, I hear you." Dudley grabbed the trooper's wrist, and hauled himself up. "Cheers."

Dudley moved to help Gordon, but the nerd squirmed out of the ruble with only a bit of room. He was fine, he was already talking to one of the troopers about their helmet systems. The poor trooper looked bewildered.

"I have to say, I'd never have thought a bunch of civvies would've kept us from getting borked." The trooper checking on Dudley commented, "Man, that's going to be embarrasing."

The squad of troopers quickly moved through group of boys, politely disarming them. Most of the troopers seemed reluctant to do so, "Sorry, Senator Organa's orders." Even Malcolm surrendered his E-5 without much fuss. Dudley quickly grabbed Harry's wand, luckily it didn't seem damaged. The stick had somehow wound up only a few feet from Dudley.

Of course that was when everything went to hell.

There was a dull whine, the trooper who had been checking on Dudley suddenly threw himself on the boy. Dudley saw a shape he recognised as a Hyena, the CIS's mainstay bomber. Then there was a second explosion.

* * *

"Ly. Dudley. Dudley!" Someone was screaming in his face. Oh, it was Dennis.

For the second time in far to short of a time, Dudley had been in an explosion. He was starting to question his love of Star Wars.


	3. Chapter 3

He didn't know how long he'd been on the ground, deafened by the much higher-yield of the Hyena bomb that had landed startlingly nearby. But when the world had stopped ringing and the sounds of nature had started to return, the Dursley boy was finally able to find his strength enough push the dead body of the clone trooper who had protected him off of himself. As he was weakly crawling away from the corpse, Dudley suddenly found himself yanked to his feet by Dennis. He found himself surrounded by the corpses of the clone troopers who had come and rescued them from the droid patrol. As sad as it was for him to admit, even to himself, Dudley found himself more relieved that each of his friends and cousin had managed to survive the bombing as well. Though clearly at the cost of several of the clone troopers as recompense.

Only Harry remained on the ground, still unconscious from the RPG explosion earlier. The rest of the boys quickly got to work scavenging anything that they could find from the troopers' equipment and weaponry, but only taking what they could carry. This included rifles and pistols, plenty of ammo packs, the troopers' utility belts, and a few other odds and ends. But even as he sank to the floor with a heavy sigh of relief, Dudley could already hear that clanking of a perfectly synchronized march. 'Battledroids. Like the situation could get any worse.' Dudley peeked in the direction he could hear them coming from. Off in the distance, he could see them marching in formation like 18th century redcoats were the battle droids. A whole bunch of them. But he was wrong, the situation could get worse.

"Please tell me I'm hallucinating and that those aren't tanks," Dudley moaned.

Malcolm glanced up from the DC-15A he was fiddling with. "Those aren't tanks."

"Has anyone seen my wand?" Harry asked groggily as he sat up from where he'd been laid. "I think I've lost it."

"Here," Dudley said as he dug out the magic wand and tossed the stick to his cousin. "I don't think magic will help us with this, though."

Malcolm apparently finished what he was doing. He carefully laid down, propping the rifle up with his elbow. Piers pulled out a set of macronoculars as he took up a spot next to him. Like the rifle, the futuristic binoculars had been scavenged from the squad of dead troopers earlier. Dudley noticed that Malcolm's rifle somehow had a scope. 'Huh, the Wookiepedia article of the BlasTech rifle said there was a scope, but seeing is believing.'

Dudley had to ask, "Mal, what are you doing?" Malcolm didn't answer, "Malcolm?"

Piers answered, "There's an officer down there, he's in one of the tanks. Totally sticking his head out of the tank."

"What's his name, Whorm Loathsum?" Gordon asked, wrist deep in a trooper's helmet. "It's been awhile since I've seen the Clone Wars movie."  
Piers shrugged, "No clue. Malcolm just wants to halt their advance a little bit. Give us a bit of time. Two of the clone troopers survived, but they can't walk. Dudley and Dennis aren't that strong."

Harry checked his wand, making an audible sound of relief when he cast a spell that caused the end to glow. "I might be able to lighten them a bit, Featherlight charm."

"You can affect gravity?" Gordon asked, "Or are you affecting mass?" Harry shrugged, he'd left normal schooling at eleven. Unlike Hermione, he didn't investigate the particulars.

The blaster's report made Dudley flinch. He hadn't been expecting the shot in the middle of conversation.  
A bit of smoke rose from the barrel, Malcolm rose to his feet.

Piers nodded from behind the futuristic binoculars. "Hit."

"Dudley, can you and Dennis get the troopers? You two are the biggest." Malcolm asked, "If Gordon is to be believed, there's a spaceport not too far from here. Hopefully, we can get something on the air."

As Malcolm was speaking, Harry cast a spell at both living troopers. Once done, he gestured the two boys over. On his way over, Malcolm tossed a blaster pistol to Dudley, a DC-17.

Gordon finished whatever he was doing with the helmet, and cradled a DC-15S. The carbine version of the DC-15A. "If this map is correct, I'd say it's a few kilometers that way." Gordon pointed off to side but kept his gaze firmly glued to his PDA. "We really need a compass." He commented to himself.  
Dudley winced. He was big and strong, but a clone trooper was a trained soldier. Bigger and heavier than him, and if his memory wasn't failing him, Phase One trooper armor was in the ballpark of 40 kilos. Carrying something that heavy for a few kilometers would be taxing. Maybe he should have joined Malcolm on those morning runs after all? Or Dennis' weightlifting sessions. Or both.

"At least the robots have stopped." Harry commented, as though reading Dudley's thoughts, as he looked back over at the chaos that Malcolm's single shot had made. "Let's get a move on."

Dudley was right, troopers were heavy. Really heavy, and the tanks had started back up again. "Malcolm, why do the tanks seem to be moving faster?" Dudley asked. The feather-light charm had worn off half way there, and Harry didn't want to risk a rushed spell. So, he and Dennis trudged on, legs shaking and breathing heavily.

"I didn't kill the commander, I wounded him. They would have to go slow for his medical care." Malcolm told him, he spun and fired off a few shots. He had been periodically turning and firing trying to slow the clankers down. It wasn't working as much as he hoped. The boys could tell thanks to the nasty grimace on his face.

Piers cursed from up ahead of them. "There's two squads of droids guarding the spaceport."

Dudley grinned tiredly, "That's a good thing. They wouldn't waste resources without a decent reason." He sat the trooper down behind cover, "Let's figure out how to do this."

Dennis set the trooper he was carrying down, and Gordon tossed him a DC carbine. Dudley checked his pistol, Harry gave his wand a sharp flick, Piers brought his rifle up.

"So how about an American Split?" Dudley asked, "Catch'em in a crossfire, and get into the spaceport before the tanks get here?"

Harry crooked an eyebrow, "American Split?"

Dennis gave the wizard a grin, "Split up, and shoot them. Simple, easy to remember, like all the best plans."

"That's because all your plans need to be easy for you to remember." Piers snarked. Dennis fake laughed before showing him a particular rude gesture.

Malcolm set his rifle on a convenient piece of rubble near him, "Harry, you, Piers, and Gordon move across the street and hit them after I take the first shot. Dudley, you and Dennis get ready to carry the troopers when I give the word. We don't have much time." Malcolm could inject seriousness into everyone, but the real inspiration came from Dudley.

"Oi, anyone who dies, buys." The boxer grinned, "Now remember, we have to do this fast."  
The groups split off, Harry already had a crackling aura of magic spinning about him.

Malcolm sighted the solitary officer, and fired. He was beginning to rather like the DC rifle much more than the droid's E-5. It was long and unwieldy, but it was made to a much higher standard. It also had far more stopping power.

It was a quick firefight thanks to B-1 battledroids being rather stupid and the crossfire quickly took care of the two squads. Not a single droid was able to fire a shot that came even remotely close to any of the boys.

"Get the troopers!" Malcolm barked, he hopped over the bit of building he had used as a shooting rest before immediately setting up to shoot the other way.

It was a mad rush through the spaceport doors. Piers halted at the door, DC carbine firing at the incoming wave of droids. It was a far ways off, but already the AATs were adjusting the aim of their main cannons.

Dudley looked over the large number of ships with a critical eye. He limited his potential selections to ships he knew something about. He nixed the Gozanti from the list almost immediately since it was slow and not visibly armed. The Deepwater had potential, like all Mon Calamari ships, it was tougher than nails. There was a beat up CR-90 corvette. The heavy turbolasers absent, though there was higher than normal amount of engines. So, it might've actually been the Senator's ship for this particular voyage. There was an older YT-1150, so rusty and beat-up that it made the Falcon look beautiful. The old ship was leaking some sort of fluid that hissed upon contact of the ground. Dudley shuddered, there was no way in hell he was getting in that.

Wait a tick. "Is that what I think it is?" Piers asked. He pointed at a beautiful Corellian freighter, painted a not quite black.

"Get Harry. I think we'll need to magic it open." Dudley ordered. Gordon and Harry had split up to track down a decent ship faster, while Malcolm continued to cover the entrance, leaving Dennis with the troopers. With the over powered featherlight charm, he could easily carry both of the troopers.  
It took only a few minutes to get everyone there, Malcolm and Piers skidding to a halt with their blasters visibly steaming.

"Did you notice the bodies?" Malcolm asked between pants. There were two bodies lying on the ground in front of the entrance to the ship that they'd chosen. They'd clearly been shot while trying to board, charred black spots on their back. Empty weapons holsters showing that someone had appropriated their blasters. It looked like the ramp hadn't opened in time to save them.

Dudley shrugged, "It's this ship or the blockade runner." The mechanical marching of a multitude of death machines cleared up the argument quicker than a blaster shot.

Harry waved his wand with an "Alohomora!" The ramp groaned in protest for a moment but still opened with a hiss of white vapor. The group rushed up the ramp, Gordon slapping a button to close it since he was the last one through. The genius quickly leading the strongman to a cabin, helping to get the troopers settled. Dudley wasn't the only Star Wars fan that knew a few of the internal designs of famous ship classes.

Harry made it to the cockpit first, sliding into the pilot's seat. He blinked at the assortment of buttons before pressing one on instinct. The ship's internal lighting blinked on, the buttons turning a multitude of colors. The wizard pressed another one, this time the engines coughed before humming to life.  
Piers slumped into the co-pilots seat. Despite himself, he was staring in blatant surprise at Harry's easy ignition of the ship. It was like the guy had done it many times before! Talk about humbling! "I have no idea what I'm doing." Piers admitted quietly, looking at Harry for help. "I know it's a VCX-100, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."

At first, Harry didn't respond. He was much more focused on getting into the zone. Tapping into those wonderful feelings and sensations he always got when flying his Firebolt. The same feeling that made him such a good Seeker. "Push that lever up, then hit that toggle." The wizard instructed as he grinned. It may not be a broom, but he knew he could still fly it.

As he entered into the cockpit, Dudley reflexively cursed as he saw both pilot seats occupied. He wanted to fly the ship! He grumbled but found his way into the bubble-nose shaped turret instead. Quickly, he found a wireless headset and put it on easy enough. It took a few moments to activate it, but when he did he could hear that Gordon was already mumbling to himself on the comm network about improvements. He was already set up in the rear turret/fighter. Dennis was in the dorsal bubble turret and was trying to talk over Gordon to no avail.

Not that Dudley was paying too much attention to his friend's grumblings just yet. He was more concerned with firing the nose guns down at the platoon of battle droids that had rushed over. The noise of the freighter's engines powering up had attracted their attentions, bringing them running and opening fire very quickly. The targeting system was strange as hell, causing Dudley to ignore it and to fire by line-of-sight instead.

"Where's Malcolm?" Dudley asked as he blew apart two droids in one shot. He had initially expected the ninja to be the one in the dorsal turret.  
"He's in one of the cabins with the troopers." Gordon stopped his ranting to tell him, then he continued in a low whisper that was barely audible. "He's scared of flying."

Dudley barked out a laugh at that. It had to be a joke. Malcolm wasn't scared of anything...right?

Harry and Piers both found similar headsets. "Alright, I think this is what I'm supposed to do." Harry pulled back on the dual stick-like wheel.  
The VCX rose up, rotating upwards. The engines roared, and the ship took off like a rocket.

* * *

That Force presence was back again, and in response Anakin Skywalker was starting to get annoyed with whoever that Force sensitive was. He was also annoyed because the odd ripples in the Force were making him curious. They didn't feel like a Sith, yet it was unmistakably not a Jedi.  
He pushed the annoying sensation to the back of his mind. He had a battle to win. For a moment, he thought about what Obi-Wan was going to do to him.

He listened as the clones behind him giving the status reports with Admiral Yularen leaning in closer behind him.

"Ready to fire, Admiral," the commander stated.

"Ready when you are, General."

"Fire!" The stealth ship decloaked in a shower of sparks, and a quartet of torpedoes launched from their tubes.

"Okay, either I just won the lottery or there's fighters coming after us," Piers announced into the headset, looking at a flashing monitor. Harry glanced away from the stars to look at Piers.

"Fighters?" Harry asked, "Are those like bludgers?"

Piers blinked, "What the hell are bludgers? Just don't let them shoot us, and make sure the shields are raised!"

Harry nodded, squinting to see the small dots flying in a V-formation. "Piers, pull that red lever." Harry adjusted his angle a bit, "Dudley, get ready to fire."  
"It looks like a flight of bombers with a fighter escort." Dudley announced. That wording caused Harry to immediately think of the WWII planes he could still vaguely remember from primary school after five years of Wizard schooling. Though there wasn't any overt change in size between the fighters, except three that were a little bit wider than the six others.

As the nine ships rapidly closed into firing distance, Dudley depressed the firing stick three times in quick succession, his double laser cannon turret spamming out three shots. The fighter's broke formation, except one Vulture droid-fighter which took a single shot and exploded.  
Harry narrowed his eyes in silent and annoyed contemplation. That was the most perfect flying formation he had ever seen and Oliver Wood had been his Quidditch Captain for three years! Something was off about them.

"I got one!" Dennis shouted. Then the whole ship shuddered.

"My bad!' Gordon shouted over the headset, "For some reason I though the controls were reversed."

Harry took the VCX into a dive, and the mixed group of fighters followed. Gordon and Dennis both firing into the swarm of fighters. "Harry, when we pull out of the dive, we'll expose dorsal side. I'm not sure the top gun will arc straight up either." Gordon rambled into his headset.

"Dennis, when I give the signal: rotate to the 4 'o'clock position. Keep it flat with the ship's hull." Harry announced, his eyes narrowed with intense concentration. 'Okay, these 'fighters' are basically bludgers. Just these bludgers could curse from range.'

"Now!" Harry barked, waiting a heartbeat before pulling up from the dive and spinning slightly to the left.

The quick planning ahead caused Dennis to only provide miniscule amount of aiming to shoot at the stream of droids as they followed Harry's maneuver. The fighters were simple minded, and four fell to Dennis' accurate fire before falling into Gordon's firing line. Gordon had an eye for angles, speeds, and vectors. With only a few shots to gauge the speed of his rear turret's laser fire, he had stopped using the targeting computer, and he shredded two starfighters as soon as they came into his firing arc.

"The Hyena are firing missiles!" Dennis screamed, it was unusually high pitched for the large teen.

"Harry, dodge!" Dudley yelled, correctly assuming that the Wizard would have no idea what a missile was.

Harry pushed the VCX to its limit, the engines strained into a high pitched whine that reverberated throughout the freighter. He took the ship into a spinning corkscrew turn, the missiles went spinning after him. Far too quickly the missiles were gaining on the ship, and Harry wasn't sure what he could do to shake off whatever these 'missiles' were.

 _'Merlin! It's like Dobby's bludger all over again.'_

"Harry, try to lose them by going over the planet's pole. Maybe the electromagnetic radiation will slow them down." Dudley tossed an idea out.

Harry turned the ship quickly in response. While not quite able to turn on a dime with the VCX-100 (it was a freighter, not a fighter), Harry just managed to dodge the missiles. The two concussion missiles speeding past the freighter, immediately turning into a wide loop.

"There's four Venators out there. Has anyone tried calling for help?" a quasi-familiar voice asked. Piers turned around.

It was one of the troopers! He was unusually pale and supported by an equally pale Malcolm. Piers found his eye unwillingly drawn to the carbon scored upper-arm plate and the emptiness below it where there should have been an elbow. Thankfully, the haphazard tourniquet they'd hurriedly tied on it seemed to have stemmed the blood flow, just leaving the stump very gory and oozy. "We could use a-" Piers suddenly stopped when he realized what he was about to say.

"Yeah, you could use a hand." The trooper managed a strained smile. "Help me to that console." Malcolm helped the trooper to a chair a bit father back in the cockpit.

The console the chair was in front of was the main comm control station. While, yes, the pilot or co-pilot could adjust frequencies and such at the main control panel, the comm center had far more control and far more options to do so.

"This is CT-7889/3606 calling to any GAR forces in system, requesting immediate assistance," the trooper reached awkwardly across the control board, "Calling any GAR forces, we require immediate assistance."

Dudley ignored the trooper as he tracked the missiles with his targeting computer and spammed the firing studs. The red plasma flung itself through space rapidly, though the first shot missed. As did the second. So did the third. The missiles completed their loop making a hard burn towards the light freighter's cockpit. Sweat dripped from Dudley's forehead. The forth shot glanced a missile. The ordinance spun off its vector before exploding harmlessly in space.

At least, there were no buzz droids.

The remaining missile was seconds from impact, and Dudley couldn't hit the damn thing. The boxer closed his eyes, not wanting to see his death.  
Harry threw the ship into a barrel roll at the last second, a maneuver he had practiced a hundred times with a bludger. He had quickly learned that it was all about timing. To early and the bludger would turn and hit you anyway, too late and the bludger wouldn't need to turn. Harry's roll was perfectly timed. The missile would pass just over eight meters from the freighter. An amazing dodge. Unfortunately, the missile exploded anyway. The force knocking the VCX into a new vector, and more importantly, dropping the freighter's shields.

Anyone not buckled into a chair, namely Malcolm, was thrown into a bulkhead. Anyone that was buckled in was wrenched in their seat, suffering whiplash. Harry winced, the Wizard was more than used to performing gut-wrenching, high-speed maneuvers and was first to sort himself. There was still droids chasing them after all.

"Civilian freighter, maintain course," a voice came in over the comm, it was heavily modulated. The modulation was a sign of basic encryption, a standard given to almost all starfighters.

"Are we gonna get shot?" asked Piers, while under normal circumstances flying straight was easy. While dogfighting without shields? That was a different story entirely.

"That was a GAR pilot," the trooper responded. "Means we're saved." As if the universe disagreed, the ship shook from a blast of laser fire. Just as suddenly the shuddering stopped.

"Uh, Harry. A couple V-19s just came in and blew up all the vultures." Dennis told the pilot. "Do you think they'll not shoot us?"

"Civilian freighter, follow us to the Resolute." The trio of V-19s accelerated just passed the freighter, "Make best speed and we'll match it." Harry wordlessly followed instructions as he stared somewhat yearningly at the friendly starfighters. Honestly, he wanted to fly one of those pointy, upside-down W-shaped fighters. Well, maybe after he had a nice sit-down with his cousin and a ten-hour nap.

 _'Wait, better make that a twelve-hour nap. Yeah! A twelve-hour nap and a nice cup of tea.'_

* * *

Obi-Wan Kenobi had originally intended to have Cody take care of the civilian fighter with two Troopers inside and half a dozen civilians that had apparently rescued said troopers. The 'Negotiator' was a general busy preparing a ground invasion while organizing the last few steps of a civilian evacuation on a planet-wide scale after all. But then the Jedi had sensed the staggering Force potential of one of the beings aboard the ship.  
It reminded him very much of Anakin's signature after a year of being a padawan.

The Jedi stroked his beard thoughtfully. _'The Jedi Council would definitely not want such a powerful force sensitive running amok across the galaxy. Not with Dooku, and especially Dooku's Sith Master, remaining unchecked.'_ Obi-Wan nodded, he would take steps to either recruit or contain this individual until he could reliably contact either the Supreme Chancellor, or the Jedi Council.

His plans decided, he watched the freighter descend to the main flight deck. Despite himself, he found himself wishing that Anakin was here. His old padawan would immediately rattle off the model and the types of people who normally used such models. That information was usually pretty useful since it helped Obi-Wan get a better idea of the people he would be dealing inside it. As he watched, he was again impressed as the freighter set down. Despite the damage to the rear of the ship, probably caused by a missile explosion, the pilot brought the ship down for a smooth landing. That type of easy piloting came either from experience, natural talent, computer assistance, or some combination of the three.

Captain Rex signaled a few troopers, they stood ready, weapons ready to go but not raised just yet. Behind them were two teams of med-techs, ready to transport the two injured troopers to the medbay. It was a short wait as the dorsal hangar closed, and the main strip was pressurized. The atmospheric shielding snapped off and Obi-Wan stepped forward, closely followed by the captain and four other troopers. The Captain's aggressive measures were unnecessary however. He could already sense that the presences were moving to the ramp.

The ramp lowered awkwardly, clearly in need of some long-due maintenance. As it did so, it revealed a human teenager who was half-carrying a trooper down the ramp. Then another pair of human teenagers were carrying an unconscious trooper. Three more teens shuffled out after those five and a grim smile appeared on the general's face. All but one of the boys had such an expression of awe on their faces as they spotted him and the troopers standing before them. It was clearly some kind surreal experience for them. While that wasn't exactly strange when people met a Jedi, what was strange was that three of the teenager's awe was directed directly at Captain Rex.

"Hello there."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Merry Christmas!

BTW: Brief blaster list at the bottom, so read if you'd like!

* * *

Harry huffed. Was this what his friends went through when he was in the infirmary? If so, he now understood why people complained about it all the time. "I can try to magically wake Dennis up. There's a spell for it."

Dudley frowned, "Couldn't that be dangerous? He did hit his head when he fell off the ramp." Unfortunately, Dudley had a point. While Harry could cast the Enervate spell, unconsciousness caused by head injury was probably dangerous to reverse with the awakening spell.

"I wouldn't risk it, Harry," Gordon told him. Of all the blasters and other equipment taken from the group of Earthlings once they'd landed aboard the vessel, Gordon was allowed to keep his stripped down datapad. Even now, he was still trying to somehow combine or reverse-engineer or something his PDA and the GAR datapad together. "Unless you know how the spell would react, it's probably not a good ide - MALCOLM, STOP PACING ALREADY!"

Malcolm took three more steps before looking back at Gordon, a classic 'What'cha gonna do about it?' look on his face. He then continued his pacing. This predictably caused Gordon to mutter curses and threats angrily under his breath as he tried to turn back to his project.

Off to the side, Captain Rex watched the civilians placed under his care, a headache creeping up on him. He almost wanted to put his helmet back on to use the armor as a shield to separate him from the teenagers. He turned his head away instead. Perhaps the only consolation was that at least he wasn't the only one who had to deal with these children. The other one, Piers, if his memory was correct, was bugging Sergeant Coric about medical procedures and technologies. Serves him right for laughing at the Captain's misfortune! Then the biggest boy, Dennis, snapped awake.

"Did I feint?" He asked in a confused tone as he sat up. "Oh, not again. I feinted the first time I met Ewan McGregor." He rubbed his forehead. Then he blinked as he spotted Rex. "Oh. Not a feinting-induced dream."

"Don't worry, Dennis. Dudley practically squealed." Gordon pointed out nonchalantly, blissfully ignorant of the steaming glare he received from his friend. "And even Malcolm got a little shaky. He tried to say it was a fading adrenaline rush, but I know better."  
Dudley continued to glare at the techie. "Didn't you start randomly blurting techno-babble stuff out earlier, Klingon? I'm pretty sure everyone except Harry wasn't at their best, and that's because he's a Luddite."

Just as Harry was about to snap back at his cousin, the medbay door hissed open and in walked Obi-Wan Kenobi. The General had a somewhat perplexed look on his face. "Gentlemen, this cruiser is about to return to Coruscant, dropping off wounded troopers. Unfortunately, that means I have to decide on what to do with you." The General sighed, "We managed to break the Separatists' encryption, and even now General Whorm Loathsom is calling for the execution of you lot. Apparently, one of you shot off one of his tusks?"

The British citizens glanced at a shrugging Malcolm. "I missed."

"If you do remain here, I'm going to have to put you all under GAR protection," The General stated.

Dudley had a pensive frown on his face, "May we have a few minutes to discuss this in private, Master Jedi?"

"Don't take too long," the Jedi nodded. He left the med-bay, Coric and Rex with him.

Dudley glanced at his best friends. And Harry. "I've been thinking."

"Did it hurt?" Piers asked.

"Shut it," Dudley barked, glaring slightly. "The Force is basically Space Magic. What if you could learn a bit about it?" Dudley directed at Harry. "Maybe teach a few of your spells to them as a type of trade agreement for any help they could give?"

The wizard shrugged, "Maybe? I'm not too sure about it."

Dudley continued, "The GAR probably confiscated the weapons we scavenged. We need some way to get weapons of a decent quality. If we can work out some sort of arrangement with the General, we can maybe get some weapons." Dudley stressed the maybe. "That means we'll have to work with the Republic for a while."  
Harry bristled. "Isn't the leader of the Republic a 'Dark Lord?' Why should we work with them?"

"Despite that, the Republic is the good side in this war." Gordon spoke up, "Besides, all of us except Malcolm need training. Working with the Clones will help us out with that."

"There's that word again. What's a clone?" The wizard asked.

"Basically, an exact physical copy of a person." Dudley answered, "They've been raised to fight for the Republic, trained since birth, some of them with live fire exercises." The boxer paused. "An argument could be made that they're actually slaves of the Republic."  
Harry immediately exploded, "And they're the _good guys_?!"

"The Republic doesn't order the execution of civilians," Malcolm retorted calmly. "The Republic is far from perfect, and none of us here like what's happening to the troopers. But Dudley has a point. We don't know how to get back home and this is a galaxy that will remain combat heavy for the next fifty or so years. We need the ability to defend ourselves."

Harry growled. He really, really, really didn't want to have anything to do with this 'Republic', the war, the Jedi, or anything of the sort. He just wanted and needed to get back home to England as quickly as he could. But the wizard could also see Mal's logic, and that only made him angrier. "Argh, fine! We'll work with them for now, but we're leaving as soon as we get to a point we can reliably look after ourselves!"

Dudley sighed, "I'll get the Jedi."

* * *

"Anakin, can you calm down? That isn't your ship to tinker with." The General was almost to the point of letting a droid to shoot him. Or his old padawan. "Neither is the stealth ship." Definitely his old padawan.

"Master, what if there's a bomb aboard? Or the engines are rigged to blow?" Despite Skywalker saying that, the both of them knew that the technicians had already went over the freighter to look for such things. It was Anakin's attempt at an excuse to see how the VCX-100 was modified. Obi-Wan just gave his padawan an exasperated look.  
Both Jedi stiffened when they felt the flare of anger from the Force sensitive boy. Anakin's hand reflexively dropped to his saber hilt, Obi-Wan almost did the same. Anger did lead to the Dark Side. But this wasn't the evil side of the Force. This was just an extremely angry person that had a deep connection to the Force.

"I do hope nothing is wrong," Obi-Wan muttered. After a few moments of tension, the anger lessened. It was still there, but carefully tempered. To be honest, it reminded the Jedi Master of Qui-gon Jinn when he was furious.

The Negotiator frowned, his hand idly coming up to stroke his beard as he lost himself in thought. How strong was this boy in the Force? The anger and near-overwhelming Force presence reminded him of Anakin in many ways. Almost too many ways. Was he trained? If he was, it certainly wasn't as a Jedi, the necessary control was not there.  
"Sir. One of the civilians would like to talk to you." Commander Cody broke Obi-Wan's train of thought, "I have Captain Rex bringing him here to the hangar now."  
Obi-Wan could feel Cody wanted to ask a question, but the clone dismissed it after a moment of thought.

"Give the Captain my thanks, Cody." The General nodded, and he turned to the duo of approaching Force signatures. One was Captain Rex, and the other was seemingly not the Force Sensitive. Surprisingly and definitely interestingly, it seemed the sensitive was not the leader of this particular group, unlike most other parties tended to be all over the galaxy.

"Master Kenobi," The boy nodded his head respectfully once he was in the range of polite conversation.

"Mister?" The Negotiator would shamelessly fish for information. The more he could report to the council, the better. Control of powerful Force sensitives was almost as important as control of major shipbuilding worlds in this war. Dooku, Ventress, Durge, and General Grievous were dangerous enough. Adding another foe could strain the already flailing Jedi Order to the breaking point.

"Dursley. Dudley Dursley, but please call me Lee." The boy was big, had two chins, but he had a decent amount of muscle on him. It was obvious that he used to be much fatter, but now the boy was just bulky. The Jedi General also detected a surprising amount of cunning from the boy, far more than his appearance would lead many to believe possible.

"Pleased to meet you, Lee." The General was pleased by the young man's decent manners and staggering maturity. Most young people these days were full of disrespect and bluster. Much like his former padawan.

"I'll be upfront about this, General. I want weapons for my crew, - er, my _friends_ , really - and training in how to use them. We're willing to work with you to earn the weapons, and my cousin is willing to trade a few Force techniques of his own in exchange for a bit of his own training from you guys."

The boy was bold, very bold. Admitting that his cousin was a Force sensitive and the desire for weapons. Though Obi-Wan was curious. "What sort of techniques?"

"A shield capable of blocking blaster bolts in a very wide area, a technique that knocks living beings unconscious within a certain distance and the technique to reverse it, and finally a method of reducing the weight of an object to make it easier to carry around." Obi-wan and Anakin both found themselves staring at the boy with unguarded surprise on both their faces, both sensing that the boy was telling the straight truth to them. What was more surprising was that the boy was so blaise about what his cousin could do, and rightly so. If true, those could very well be invaluable techniques for Jedi at war. "Potentially more than that, depending on what he learns."

"Perhaps a quick demonstration is in order?" The Negotiator all but commanded. He needed to see these techniques in action, to know.

* * *

"Four spells?" Harry asked incredulously, "Possibly more?"

"It's the only things I knew you could do." Dudley tried to explain, "Besides, from what you told me about wizarding duels, everyone likes to fight at range. A good Jedi will wreck those (what are they called Death Munchers?) Dark wizards easily."

"Piers said training as a Jedi took years." Harry was still upset. "We have to get back home as soon as possible. There's a prophecy about me."

Dudley slapped himself in the face. "Why didn't you say this earlier? The Jedi would be more willing to help a person with a prophecy about them. They kinda have a big deal about their own 'Chosen One' prophecy."

Harry sighed, "Whatever, let's just get this over with. Kenobi is pushing back the first ground assault four hours, I want to get some sleep before then."

In the port (left) side hangar, a large area was almost permanently cleared at all times. Rex and Cody usually used it as a large scale training ground. Sometimes the Jedi would use it for their own spars. It was big enough that the 501st could even run drills with AT-TE walkers.

Rex had a squad of troopers doing checks over various weaponry, a Z-6 rottary cannon, several DC-15As, and even an E-Web. If his troopers we going to possibly depend on this Force sorcery then he was going to do everything he could to test it. "General, our weapons are ready." The Captain reported to Kenobi. General Skywalker was busy outside with a detachment of the 501st and Commander Cody installing a prefab base just outside of Crystal City.

"Excellent, Captain. Mister Potter this 'shield charm' if you would." There was no trace of skeptism in the General's tone. He gestured at a row of targets, ten of them. A meter apart. Of to the side, almost two companies of 501st troopers were watching.

Harry Potter stepped forward, a look of concentration on his face. "Protego!" A shimmer appeared between the armed troopers and the row of targets.  
Captain Rex snapped his DC-17 pistol out of his holster and hit the center of the shield with three shots. The shield pinged with each hit, and a slight ripple expanded from each shot. Despite the heavy blaster pistol being one of the most powerful pistols available (only being beaten by the DT-29, S-5 and the brand new DL-44) the shield looked hardly phased.

"Alright gent's, ready the DC's." The Captain ordered, nine of the twelve troopers readied their rifles.

The troopers sprayed with the DC-15A's full auto mode, dozens ripples spread across the shimmery bubble. For almost ten seconds the barrage held up, before the shield collapsed. Rex looked over, the self-styled wizard was panting, but he claimed he could do it again when General Kenobi asked about it.  
After a moment, Potter pointed his stick and shouted that ridiculous word again. This time Chaff, a squad gunner, opened up with the Z-6. Just a quick burst, a little over a second long. The nine DC-15A's had more firepower together than the Z-6 could put out, but Rex wanted to see if the concentrated rapid fire could quickly overwhelm the shield. The shield held, though there was a look of strain on the wizard boy's face.

Captain Rex nodded to the two troopers manning the E-Web. The heavy cannon was set to it's highest power, about the same power level of a heavy laser cannon. The Wizard's cousin grinned viciously, like he was heavily entertained.

"Fire!" The Captain spoke through his helmet's comlink. The enormous plasma blast slammed into the shield. It was like a gong going off, the shield flared white before collapsing.

Despite the shield dropping, none of the targets were even scorched. Rex decided then that he would do whatever it took to get this Magic Shield to protect his men. Even if it meant letting these kids get a free tour and pick out of the ship's armory.

The Captain waved over the the Wizard's cousin, a classic 'come over here' motion. Despite the kid being a civvy, he wasn't stupid. The kid walked all the way around the makeshift firing range. General Kenobi was already talking to the other boy, the one with the magic stick.

"Make sure you get your final equipment checks. The larties are pulling off the main hangar in four hours. Everyone will be assembled for final briefing in three and a half." Captain Rex dismissed his troops, just in time for Dudley 'Lee' Dursley to show up.

"Captain," The civvie acknowledged with a respectful nod.

"Dursley, get the rest of your crew and meet me in the main armory in five minutes. That's your only chance to get weapons from my ship."

* * *

Dennis grinned. He was feeling particularly... _American_ in the presence of all these weapons. Rifles lined the walls, so did pistols, vibro blades, launchers of various projectiles. Strangely, not all the weapons were of the DC series you saw on the show. There were a large variety of weapons.

Captain Rex nodded to the master armorer, "Saftey. How have you been?"

"I just got a crate of these new A280-CFE's and not a single trooper wants to test them out! How do you think I am? GAR Procurement still want a report on those A280C's we got a month ago." The mullet sporting trooper ranted, "No one wants to field test any equipment. It's like they think it won't work. They even want us to do some preliminary testing on E-11's, but Procurement wont accept that the DC-15 is a fine blaster."

"That sounds like a real issue," the Captain acknowledged. "Speaking of, General Kenobi wants you to equip these civilians with weapons."

"Oh, I got the memo," Saftey groaned. "I can't even use their reports to make my reports. Let's get this over with. Anybody who knows what they want, get over here."

Predictably, Malcolm stepped up. "Can I get a DC-17m ICWS? All the attachments, please. Can I get one of those short vibroblades? I also want a DC-17 blaster pistol."

Safety blinked and grinned. "Finally, someone who likes to test new things. Officially , these are commando weapons. But we regular troopers get them too. I even got some dummy grenades so you can practice. We're not wasting 400 credits to let you fire a real grenade. I'm sure we can get you up to speed with the rest of the attachments too." As Saftey was talking, he pulled out a large metal case, and placed it on his bar-like work bench. He pulled two data pads out, tossing one on the case and plugging the other into the case with a cable. "Just place your palm here."

Malcolm hesitantly placed his palm on the pad. It simply scanned his hand. Saftey explained. "The case is now bio-metrically matched to your hand. I'm assuming you'll want your pistol in a holster. Let me take everyone's order before I get your blade and pistol. Now, who's next?"

In the end, Dennis got a Z-6 rotary cannon and a DC-17 blaster pistol. Piers got the A280-CFE and the DC-15s. Gordon stayed simple with a DC-15S and a DC-17. Dudley grinned at the Captain before asking for a pair of DC-17's and a DC-17m.

Harry, after the group found out he would be talking with General Kenobi for a while, was ordered for.  
"My cousin needs a sidearm that needs minor maintenance, and doesn't need much reloading." Dudley knew his cousin would barely use his pistol, but it was always better to have a back up.

"Glad I accidentally grabbed an extra Commando pistol. DC-15s's are perfect for what you need." Saftey threw the plastic and leather gunbelt on the table, "Is there anything else?"

Malcolm spoke up, "Could we possibly get a full-size vibro blade for his cousin? I have a feeling it might come in handy soon."

* * *

AN: So despite EA's Battlefront II (2017) spending lots of money, they got several things wrong. The Clone Trooper Heavy class's starting weapon is the DC-15A the Assault Class's carbine is the DC-15S. Now there's a couple of other blasters I'll bring up so just a quick look if you don't know, or are curious about their real world counterparts.

DC-15A-The Clone trooper Rifle from AOTC. The big one that's really tall. Both a WWII BAR and a M102 Barret .50 cal

DC-15S-The Carbine troopers use in cartoon and episode 3. The shorter one. AK-74 without a stock (well, a folding stock, but no one used the stock anyway)

DC-15s-The side-arm from Republic Commando. The one that recharges it's ammo. A Sig P226 with unlimited ammo.

DC-17m-The short rifle from Republic Commando that has a sniper, grenade launcher, assaultrifle, and in the books a riot control laser. A M-4, M203, L115A3, and beanbag gun.

DC-17-Captain Rex's side arm. (Because of the way it's treated in Battlefront II, I believe there's 2 models. A shorter "Navy" version that you see in Battlefront II that has less stopping power and an "Army" version that is larger and has more stopping power, the one Captain Rex uses. The reason for this is barrel length, because of the way blaster bolts are actually fired.) Basically a 1911, with a lot more range.

DT-29- Krennic's pistol from Rogue One. Ehh, .44 magnum.

Z-6- The clone trooper chaingun. A chain gun, duh.

A280C-Endor Rebel blaster. Basically an M-4 A280-Hoth Rebel blaster. An AR-15.

A280-CFE- Cassian Andor's blaster, a heavy pistol, assault rifle, and sniper rifle. 1911, M16, and a Dragnov.  
DL-44-Han Solo's blaster. A Desert Eagle.

S-5- The Naboo heavy blaser from TPM. A Desert Eagle with a rope launcher, though others can have a rope launcher too.


	5. Chapter 5

The Jedi poured tea, or at least that was what the Jedi called it. If space tea was any good, well, that would be one thing Harry could like about this 'Star Wars' universe.

"You said your people called it magic?" Obi-Wan asked as he pushed a tea cup and tray towards the wizard. Harry took a sip and paused. It wasn't tea, but it wasn't awful.

"Yes." Okay, it was actually pretty good, Harry admitted to himself as he took another drink. "We use wands to cast spells which, depending on the incantation, have many different effects."

Obi-Wan hummed and stroked his beard. "I can tell you have some sort of focus on you." After a few moments of thought he continued. "It almost feels like a portable force nexus." Obi-Wan placed his lightsaber on the table before levitating it in front of the boy. Years of practice let him dismantle it within mere moments. "This is my lightsaber crystal. I received it from a planet called Ilum. Hold it in your hand."

Harry gingerly grasped the crystal, and gasped. It was like the day Hagrid had taken him to Diagon Alley, specifically Mr. Olivander's wand shop. But, even more specific than that, it felt like those many different wands that kept rejecting him, if only on a much smaller scale.

"It feels like a wand, just…weaker." Harry explained confused.

"I have a theory," Obi-Wan confessed, "Jedi and Wizards are both Force sensitives. The only difference being you Wizards live on a planetary-level Force Nexus." Obi-Wan slowly laid his hand on the table, "May I see your wand?"

Harry barely hesitated, handing the Holly and Phoenix-feather wand to the Jedi Master. Obi-wan handled the wand gingerly, looking it over very thoroughly with not just his eyes but his Force senses as he quietly spoke aloud his thoughts. "Yes. The creature's feather inside your wand is almost a pure being of Force energy. Light side energy. I would assume that Earth's Magic goes far beyond what all but the strongest Jedi or Sith can do."

"So, a Wizard could beat a Jedi in a fight?" Harry asked with a slight frown. ' _Argh! I knew it! Dudley's **stupid** plan is failing **already**_!'

Obi-Wan grinned, "Absolutely not."

* * *

Anakin Skywalker was a talented mechanic. Dudley knew absolutely nothing about maintaining a ship, but he could see the ease the Jedi had at replacing the armor plates of the VCX. As soon as that was done, he moved to tinkering with the engines.

"The General is pretty amazing, isn't he?"

Dudley shifted to look at the trooper, it wasn't one of the white armored troopers. He wasn't a pilot either, but a fighter ground crew or a technician probably. The Clone smiled at him. And while the trooper was at best two-thirds Dudley's age, but there was a wisdom there.

"He works on ships before a battle, says it helps keep his mind clear. General Kenobi meditates. The ground pounders do equipment checks, fighter pilots look over their fighters. Everyone knows they could die, so these little rituals help."

Dudley frowned. He didn't know what to say. The Clone tapped him on the shoulder and had a reassuring smile, "It's okay." The technician turned, moving to a grounded V-19 fighter.

"Dursley, you said you didn't know how to work on a ship?" Skywalker grinned at him. "C'mon, I'll teach you to run a diagnostic."

Dudley nodded, a serious look on his face.

Off to the side, Piers could see the niches forming on the team already. Malcolm was the Sniper/Scout. Dennis was the Heavy Weapons specialist. Gordon had already been the tech guy. Dudley was the boss. Harry was the magic guy/Jedi. But…what was he supposed to be?

"Hey, kid, help me with the bacta, would you?" Sergeant Coric asked the weird civilian, who eagerly rushed over to help.

Gordon had an annoying smirk on his face as he faced Malcolm. "So, you're scared of flying?"

Malcolm scowled at the jab. Of course, he wouldn't lie to his friends, so he said nothing about his fear of atmospheric flying. "Shut up, get some sleep." Dennis was already passed out, snoring. Comically, the largely built boy was cuddling his Z-6 rotary canon as though it were a stuffed animal.

Gordon sighed, of course Mal would do that. "Fine, but only because we might be going into battle pretty soon."

* * *

Admiral Yularen was almost happy. The Jedi slowing down the invasion by four hours was a great decision as far as he was concerned. It allowed his cruisers to repair much more damage, organize fighter patrols, send out recon probes to figure out the situation on the ground, and assist in the final stages of the civilian evacuation.

Senator Organa's corvette just flashed into hyperspace. A bridge technician reported the jump, just as he was supposed to. Excellent men, these clones. There were very few areas they did not immediately excel in, and they required a fraction of the training time a normal judiciary officer did when assigned to a completely different post.

"The last _Lucrehulk_ just went into hyperspace, Admiral," the ship's XO reported.

"Thank the Force these weren't the battleship models," another trooper muttered.

Indeed, the Trade Federation had three models of Lucrehulk, one was a lightly armed huge transport ship; another was the slightly better armed Command ship models; last and most dangerous were the heavily armed, armored, and shielded battleship refits. And a single battleship model could take on the quartet of Venator-class Star Destroyers with ease. If only those new Imperator Star Destroyers would be shipped out.

The Admiral shook his head, "Order Tide Company to Talon Base, and have two platoons of AT-TEs join them. Ready three squadrons of V-19s. Those walkers are important to the ground campaign."

There was a crisp 'yes sir' from the bridge crew.

The Admiral turned towards Commander Cody. The trooper was hunched over the main holographic display, looking at the most recent data gathered by the probe droids.

"Three infantry battalions, another battalion of AATs, and a squadron of Octuptarra droid." The Commander acknowledged. "Looks like they have some heavy triple A. We won't be able to use the cruisers for orbital bombardment."

The Admiral knew his profession wasn't in ground combat like the Clone standing at the holo-chart, but he knew enough. "We'll have to draw them into the city. Or send in teams to destroy the AA guns."

"If we had some TX-130's, we could do some fast attack raids and eliminate the Anti-Air." The Commander sighed. He would have to do what he could with his single battalion. At least they had armored support. "Ready the LAAT gunships, Admiral. We can use those in the capital city."

Admiral Yularen nodded, he made a note to prep a squadron of those new Y-wings as well. Better safe than sorry.

* * *

About two hours later, Dudley was tired, but the VCX was ready to fly again. Actually, knowing as much about Anakin Skywalker as he did, he was sure the Corellian freighter flew better now than at any other point in its history.

"Kid, let's get some food." The General paused to think a moment. "The quickest way to the mess is past the tertiary medical bay."

Dudley nodded, trusting Skywalker's knowledge. "So…" Dudley tried to make conversation. "What do you think of the Republic using Clones to fight its war?"

Anakin glared at Dudley. Many systems had become neutral or even joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems in response to the GAR being composed of mostly clones. "Why do you ask?"

Dudley shrugged, "Just think it's a bit wrong to use a slave army, especially for a democracy."

Anakin hated how much sense that statement made. The Republic was a force for good, but there were still several things wrong with the Republic. Thankfully, a yell came from the tertiary med bay interrupted their talk before it could become too political. Anakin sunk into the Force as Dudley slapped the door open, hand dropping to his pistol.

The door hissed open, Blitz, the one-armed trooper scrambled away from a med-droid, a needle chasing him. "Comply CT-7889/3606. GAR medical procedure is very clear. Euthanization of non-viable clones is mandatory."

Immediately, Dudley drew his blaster and the DC-17 discharged. The blue bolt hit the droid in the shoulder, knocking it away from the struggling trooper. Dudley blinked for a split second. Anakin Skywalker was already less than a meter from the droid in the next split second with his lightsaber already humming instant death. After a third split second, following a faint blur of light, the medical droid fell to the ground in four pieces.

"Blitz! You okay?" the Jedi barked, he was in full Jedi General mode.

"General?" Blitz was shocked that the Jedi had remembered his name, he wasn't even a member of Skywalker's unit.

"Was it some sort of Separatist trap?" the General asked, lightsaber still in front of him ready.

Dudley grabbed the trooper's wrist and helped him back to his feet. Digging out the new comlink he'd been given, he held it out to the trooper, "Call the Captain?"

Blitz nodded as he carefully took the comm and started seeking out Rex's number.

"Dudley, do you know something?" Anakin growled, immediately seeing that the boy knew something important about this situation somehow that he didn't.

"I have an idea, but I want it to come from someone you trust more than me." the boxer explained, his expression carefully neutral as he could almost literally feel the Jedi's stern gaze weighing down on him like a lead weight.

"Very well, let's get out of here," the Jedi tapped his wrist comm. "This is General Skywalker, I want a squad of troopers and a medic sent to the tertiary medical bay."

Amazingly, the Captain was beat to the bay by the squad of troopers, but not the medic. "Sir, what's going on?" The Sergeant asked, eyeing the cut-up droid. Some parts of the metal contraption were still glowing a dull red.

"General Skywalker," Captain Rex walked into the med bay. Coric and Piers a few steps behind him.

"Rex, has there been a change to the GAR medical code that I'm not aware of?" the General demanded, his gaze very stern. At his question, several of the troopers shifted wearily. He was in that mood again.

"An update was sent to the fleet two days ago," The Captain answered skeptically, "Most of the changes are redacted, General. But it was published by the Office of the Supreme Chancellor."

"Find me an unredacted copy of the update. I don't care if you have to pull it out of a medical droid. Get it to me," the General switched gears, "Coric, look over Blitz, would you. I don't want any trooper treated by a droid until this is resolved."

Turning, he returned his heavy gaze upon his earlier companion as he sternly said, "Dursley, we're going to have a talk."

Dudley swallowed. ' _Oh bugger_.'

* * *

With his wand resting across from him on the table, Harry was trying to use his magic without his wand. According to Obi-Wan, the first step to learning how to do that was to actually touch the force. "Reach out with your feelings." Obi-Wan kept his voice soothing, using his own force presence to nudge Harry's.

The Jedi Master could feel Harry getting frustrated, his force presence resisting what the wizard was trying to do. "You can't force it." Obi-Wan smiled at his pun, 'A new Padawan really was a great idea.' "Relax, let the Force flow through you."

Obi-Wan gave Harry a critical eye, the boy wasn't relaxing. Something is bothering him. The Negotiator could feel the boy's anger, the self-loathing. Something bad must have happened recently, and he felt it was his fault. "Don't _think,_ just _feel_. Concentrate on _this moment_ only. Nothing else is important. Not the past, not the future, only right now. Slow your breath, calm your heart, quiet your mind. Don't _think,_ just _feel."_

Something suddenly seemed to click into place, and Obi-Wan saw Harry sink into the force. The boy's face relaxed. Obi-Wan was surprised. The boy's power was immense! Raw and unrefined, but stronger than most Masters on the Jedi Council.

From its place on the low sitting table, Harry's wand vibrated. Resonating with Harry's presence in the force. 'Fascinating' Obi-Wan thought, 'He could be an amazing Jedi.' Though Master Windu would never approve. He had always had a rough time with accepting Anakin joining the Order, and he'd only been nine at the time. And with Harry almost at sixteen? He wouldn't accept it this time.

Meanwhile, Harry was basking in the light of the Force. It was soothing. He felt so much better than he has in weeks. To be sure, it didn't erase his troubles but...it felt like it'd lessened them. Like the burden of carrying them was no longer so difficult to him anymore. It allowed him to accept them.

Then the ship's PA system activated, shocking the boy out of his 'light' meditation. Obi-Wan smirked at the bewildered look on the teenager's face.

"Torrent Company, Wave Company, Whirlpool Company, report to the main hangar." Obi-Wan frowned at that. Tide Company was already on the planet. That left three whole battalions on board. They were supposed to have a full regiment and an armored battalion for this fight.

"Excuse me, Harry. I have to see what's going on." Harry wanted to ask what was going on, but he wasn't sure if he should. The Wizard wasn't even sure what he should do. Stay here and keep...'meditating'? Find Dudley and his friends? Seriously, what was he supposed to do?

Sensing the boy's hesitance and confusion, Obi-Wan gave him a reassuring look as he suggested, "Go find your cousin."

Harry nodded, collecting his wand and stepped out of the Jedi's room. Now, how to find Dudley in a giant space warship?

A squad of troopers appeared from around the corner, one or two carrying their helmets under one arm while shoving food into their mouths mid-stride. One stopped, "Kid? What are you doing here?"

"Could you direct me to the main hangar, please?" Harry asked. The trooper nodded and beckoned him to follow. It was where they were going after all.

"Uh...Follow us, kid, but you're going to have to keep up." The trooper gave the kid a 'follow me' wave.

Harry was used to running, so he was able to keep up rather easily with the jogging clogging. This surprised some of the troopers who used their helmets to glance back at the kid. Now the troopers weren't full-on sprinting, but not many civilians could keep up with a jogging clone trooper either.

By the time Harry got to the hangar, he was breathing hard. The troopers looked fine, like they hadn't just run a full kilometer. "Thank you." Harry nodded to the trooper who had led him there. The trooper gave a confused nod back.

Dennis, Piers, Gordon and Malcolm were gathered by the VCX. They, like every other person in the hangar, were listening to Commander Cody give the tactical situation. "Now, we're only deploying a single battalion. General Mundi called in a Red Zero and two battalions were diverted from us to him. Neither of the other two can land until we can take out the heavy AA guns. So, we're going to have to make due with a company of AT-TEs and some medium artillery for support. Admiral Yularen has dedicated a squadron of Y-wing bombers for air support. Again, that depends on being in sectors with light triple A.

A hologram of a walled base appeared, "Talon Base, the Deterrence dropped its prefab and will be our main control area on the ground." Cody paused to let everyone see it, "Clankers are marching on it right now. So, we're landing all the infantry we can to support Talon and clear a landing area for the rest of the walkers. Stay safe out there, Vode."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Captain Rex appeared in front of the boys by their as-yet-unnamed ship with Blitz and Dudley behind him. Dudley seemed extraordinarily paler than usual. Gordon jumped at the silent appearance.

"Well, it's a long story, but Blitz here will be joining out crew." Dudley explained rather poorly.

* * *

 _Ten minutes earlier_

"What do you know, Dursley?" Anakin Skywalker growled, getting in the shorter kid's face.

"Just that there's no place for critically injured troopers in the GAR," Dudley reluctantly answered. "I'm guessing if you looked through the Republic's budget, you won't find any funds for injured troopers that physically can't return to combat. So, wouldn't the most efficient option for the Chancellor's Office is to have troopers like that, well, done away with? And who'll care? Clones have no vote, no families to lobby, no senator. Hell, the only ones that'll care are you Jedi, and they're too busy fighting to really look at what's going on behind the scenes."

"Chancellor Palpatine is a great man," Anakin snarled as he grabbed Dudley by the front of his shirt, shoving him into the wall, Dudley's feet leaving the ground.

"Does a great man need assassins?" Dudley returned just as aggressively, doing his best to be intimidated by the Jedi General's obvious anger. "I'd bet he has some secret Special Operations troopers under his direct control. Not to mention, access to bounty hunters. Besides, very few politicians actually care to the people they represent, or the Republic they're supposed to represent."

"Sir, you're not going to like this," Captain Rex spoke up from the side, looking over to the Jedi from the screen where he and another trooper had been rifling through the destroyed medical droid's memory banks. "It looks like the kid is right. Any trooper not capable of returning to the field within one month is deemed non-viable and then euthanized."

"What?!" the General snapped as he turned, dropping Dudley. "That can't be right!"

"It is, sir," Rex stated in a dry monotone, hiding his own feelings deep within himself. "The Chancellor's personal authorization code is stamped all over the amendment."

"Blitz just lost an arm!" As if to prove a point, he held up and clenched his own black gloved mechanical hand. "Coric, what's going on?"

Coric winced. He should have put on his helmet. At least then the General wouldn't have been glaring directly at him if he'd been wearing the plastiod armor. "He lost it because of a proton bomb. That kind of radiation is what's causing his nervous system from syncing up with a prosthetic. Apparently, there is a procedure to remove the radiation, but it's been deemed too expensive to be regularly used for the GAR."

"What do we do with Blitz then?" Anakin growled, confused, frustrated, and disappointed in equal measure. "Desertion is punishable by death but staying absolutely means death."

"I might have an idea," Dudley spoke up, sounding rather uncertain, especially when Anakin turned his severe expression onto him. Dudley answered. "Simply put. CT-7889/3606 has to die. But what if he just...disappeared instead? I'd be happy to take him on as part of my crew!"

Captain Rex sighed slightly as he hesitantly added. "I may also know some people who could help us with this, sir."


	6. Chapter 6

Captain Rex felt _judged_ by the encrypted hologram of Captain N-11. _Ordo_. Ordo had answered the call, agreed with slight hesitation to encrypt the channel and was actually agreeing to help them, as long as the Jedi wasn't there. Plausible deniability the Null ARC had stated, General Skywalker had asked if Ordo would help Blitz, and after getting a firm yes, the Jedi had accepted that.

"You're sure that was what the amended GAR medical codes stated." Sergeant Kal Skirata asked, a nasty grimace on his face. If the rumors were to be believed, he had trained a company of Commandos and the Nulls.

The Nulls were absolute _legends_ on Kamino.

"Yes Sergeant." A civilian born human in the GAR. Rex wasn't sure how he felt about that, even _if_ the man was mandalorian. "Authorized by the Supreme Chancellor." Despite being a sergeant, it seemed like he was in charge. Something else that was _bizarre_.

Various mando'a curses filled the line, Rex listened with fascination. He hadn't heard much besides Basic.

"Blitz, anywhere you particularly want to go?" Kal finally asked.

"I can get you pretty much anywhere." Dudley added. Kal eyed the boy.

"I know a few places on Mandalore, or you can come to Coruscant. The Galaxy is yours, son." Kal told him.

Rex had to force himself to be quiet, Blitz should be able to stay with the GAR. The Republic was a good thing. A tiny voice in his head asked, _'Then why did the Republic try to kill him?'_

"Can I join your crew Dudley?" Blitz asked, he was aware the Dudley had carried him out of the battle and made sure he got medical treatment. His blaster even beat the Jedi to the medical droid. To a soldier, that _stuck_.

"Of course," Dudley smiled, "I want you to know strait up front that you can leave at any time. If you decide you want to become a farmer on some distant Rim world, I'll do my best to make it happen."

"I'd like to speak to you in person, if that's alright with you son." Kal had a reassuring smile on his face, "You too Dudley, the rest of your crew as well." The smile became shark like when the old NCO turned to Dudley.

"Absolutely Sergeant, though it may be a few days. My cousin is a force sensitive, Jedi stuff." Dudley explained, slightly nervous.

"One of my sons may drop by if that's the case." Skirata acknowledged, "Blitz, Rex; ret'urcye mhi. Dudley."

The holocam switched off.

"Though I get the sense he doesn't like me very much." Dudley stated.

 _Clank-clank-clank_

Sergeant Topper cursed. "Heavy-One-One, redirect fire to point bravo." There was a slight pause in the AT-TE's firing, before the mass driver cannon re-orientated. A Separatist AAT exploded, sending a handful of B1 droids flying. Not that it mattered much, a dozen of the tanks still hovered on, forward cannons firing.

One droid got up, still apparently active, rejoining the wall of droids marching too them.

 _Clank-clank-clank_

It seemed to be an endless stream of droids. "Sergeant, we're going to have to fall back. The tank's main gun is overheating." The AT-TE pilot called out over a secure channel. Topper raised his decee, cracking off a handful of shots before ducking behind a makeshift barricade.

"Copy." Without the _Enforcer_ , two squads wouldn't hold the droids long, "Fist squad fall back to secondary positions, second squad stand to!" Twelve troopers raised out of cover, pulling triggers back until their blasters overheated. Underneath their gloves, the troopers' hands burned.

There was a cry of pain, Klick had been hit in the calf with a blaster bolt. The first squad trooper had been running to a point of cover further back. The droids sensed weakness, several machines concentrating fire at the fallen trooper.

In Topper's HUD, Klick's vital signs went blank.

 _Clank-clank-clank_

"Second Squad, requesting immediate artillery support." Topper reported, "Position mark twelve, push sixty meters north east!"

"Acknowledged second squad. Understand artillery already engaged. Repeat, no artillery support available."

The AT-TE fired its smaller cannons, the battledroids slowed down a bit. The heavy walker backed up into a narrow street. The plaza GAR forced had engaged the enemy at was an advantage for the numerally superior CIS forces. The narrow street on the other hand…

The street was one of three ways to get to _Talon_ base, where heavy artillery cannons sat behind nice fortified walls. Tanks and troopers had been deployed to slow the advancing droids down until reinforcements landed from one of the Venators in orbit.

"Running low on ammo." The Enforcer's main gunner commented, "Eight rounds left."

The mention of ammunition had Topper checking his belt, a single energy cell left. Plus, the half empty one he had in his DC-15A. The trooper shuddered, it was an event strait out of his nightmares. An endless stream of droids, not stopping no matter how mand you killed. Killing clankers until your blaster ran dry and the damn things kept coming, until the blaster you scavenged from a fallen brother went dry, until the gauntlet vibroblade went dull, until the trooper physically couldn't go on. Waking up, out of the dream as he fell in the nightmare.

It was a vison common among troopers.

 _Clank-clank-clank_

"You talked with Skirata?" Malcolm asked, "Really?" Dudley wasn't sure if Mal was scared or excited. Maybe both?

Dennis shoulder checked Mal, "Sorry about that Blitz. He isn't usually like this."

"It's alright?" Blitz floundered, he was not used to teens. Or non-clones in general.

Captain Rex crossed his arms. "I heard you guys volunteered to help with the landing?"

Gordon answered, "Our VCX is a lot tougher than a larty. So, we'll drop the first team to try and hit some of the lighter triple A units."

Dudley frowned that they had decided something without them, even if that was what he would do. It was a good plan too, deploy some shock troops to clear an area for the larties to hit the force attacking _Talon_ from the flank.

"They're even fitting the ship with some proton torpedoes." Dennis grinned, "Unfortunately not proton bombs, the VCX has torpedo tubes, not a bomb chute."

Dudley nodded, "Should be fine. How many troopers are we dropping into combat?"

"A squad, plus Rex and I." Anakin Skywalker commented as he walked up to the VCX, and the group of teenagers beside it. Several blue painted troopers carrying heavy weapons and packs.

"It would be better if we had some ODSTs." Dennis muttered. "Clearing landing zones are their jobs."

Rex almost asked, but there was a battle to fight. He could ask about ODSTs later.

"Yularen to Skywalker, second squad needs immediate assistance." The Admiral's voice came over the General's wrist comm, "Routing coordinates to you now."


End file.
